Guest Column: A story to tell the nation

I have been inspired by God to write this. Those we have voted into office are not doing the job for the people they promised to do when they were chosen. They are no longer worried about the American people — it’s all about Power and Greed. None of them uses common sense. If they could all get together and agree on what would really help the middle class and the poor, they could save money and help the people at the same time.

They need to do something about the cost of health care and the cost of living by putting an end to the pharmaceutical and insurance companies that are ruining everything. They need to put a ceiling on the rising cost of gas, utilities, food, etc., to make things more affordable. If the cost of living goes down, there would be more jobs, resulting in fewer people looking for handouts.

If you have never been there, how do you know what the average person goes through to get by?

My husband has many medical problems and is on a lot of medications. It costs us a lot each month for his prescriptions. We are both on Social Security, and because of his health issues, we pay a supplemental insurance policy. This policy keeps going up with the high cost of medical. We get help for his prescriptions through the Illinois Circuit Breaker Program because we cannot pay extra for the Medicare Part D. It is a good program — until we fall into “the gap.” Because he is on so much medication, just a few months into the year we fall into this hole and have increased out-of-pocket expenses. I think this is a joke — letting people think they are getting help and then taking it away.

We have tried for extra help, but the government will not give us any because they say we are above poverty level (a few dollars over, to be exact). This is not fair because they take our gross income, not the actual money that we have to live on. I think there is something wrong with this picture.

Sometimes I have to stop getting some of our medications because the cost is so high, we can’t afford it. For example — one cholesterol medication I went to pick up, once I was in the gap, cost me over $60 — come to find out, I could have gotten it at Target for $4 — why won’t anyone tell us this stuff? And I don’t think insulin should cost around $300 per month — it is not a new drug, it has been around for many years. Also, some pills that are smaller than the tip of my little finger should not cost $3-$4 apiece. A lot of people I know are getting the same medications from Canada and other countries — why are the American people being gouged?

Why are we selling our roadways and wheat fields to other countries, and why does Canada own our railways?

Another thing: the senior citizens are getting the short end of the stick. Too many people are collecting Social Security — ones who are young and could work some sort of job. The people who have worked all their life and have paid into the program are the ones who need to receive it. There are some special cases on which I wouldn’t object, but people hooked on drugs or people who claim to be bipolar should be able to get other help instead of taking from the seniors.

That program was put into effect when President Roosevelt was in office. It was a separate program, and what did our leaders do? The government got into it and took from it because they couldn’t figure out how to balance the budget. Why did we let this happen? Why can’t we stand up for what is right? Now we senior citizens can’t even get a cost-of-living raise. We just sit around wondering what is going to happen to us.

Another thing that is not right with Medicare is that they don’t pay for the important things that seniors need. I spent a lot of time in a nursing home with my mother-in-law when her health declined. I observed that a lot of residents lost their teeth and had a hard time being able to eat. Medicare does not pay for dental. Also, it doesn’t pay for hearing aids or glasses. All this hurts their quality of life. Why don’t we take better care of our elderly? Because the ones in charge are rich enough, they can afford to have their needs met. Believe me, there are more poor people than rich ones. Is that the kind of country we want to be?

What is going on with our country? The government is trying to take away our rights. This has always been God’s country — the Promised Land. Now, we are letting foreigners come in and try to take God out of the picture. Our forefathers are probably turning in their graves when they see what is going on in the Senate and the Congress. Something has got to change. There are a lot of seniors out there — and a lot of them still vote.

We Christians need to stick together — we can’t let this happen. We need to speak out.

We need to pray for our leaders and ask God to put some good people in office. Leaders that are God-fearing; ones that will fight for all people — not just some of them.

I don’t know if my words will mean anything to anyone, but it made me feel good to be able to write them down. Someday we will all meet our maker — what have we done to help our fellow man? Do you ever think about the day you have to face Jesus and know in your heart that you only thought of yourself and not of others?

Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul, and love your neighbor as yourself.” This is the greatest commandment. (Matt. 22:37)